Living our Lives
by Zyop
Summary: A group of Pokémon, wanting just relax and enjoy life. Things, of course, don't go quite as planned: Adventure ensues, angst is encountered, the meaning of life is found, etc. Living can be odd, that way.


"Aidan, keep your head down, or they'll see us..."

"Pssh. Nadia, don't worry about it, we can handle this..."

"Handle this? We're not even supposed to BE here. Leo said, and I quote, 'Stay away from any humans in the area-"

"-lest we compromise the safety of everyone we know and care about. F*&$ that!" Aidan spat on the ground, bringing a pair of clawed hands together, completing his look with an angry scowl. Like any sneasel, he was colored black, blending in perfectly to the night, with a solitary pink feather adorning his head. His body was thin and cat-like, giving him a lithe, stealthy appearance.

"Maybe _you_ don't care, but I, for one, don't plan on having to get yelled at by that cocky, conceited, stuck up, and downright _uppity_ gallade!" Nadia looked to her brother, her face full of disdain, yet a nearly invisible smirk hinted at a barely-concealed excitement for the task Aidan wished to perform. She was almost identical to her brother in appearance the only difference being that her feather was cut off at the tip, a scar from a battle long since passed.

Aidan held up his hand, and then separated his claws ever so slightly. "See this? This is how much I care. If you can't tell, it's not very much. Now, you can go home and sell me out to Leo, betraying your one, and only, brother, or, alternatively, we could get this done, and score some human food out of the deal." He crossed his arms, demanding an answer. "So. What's it gonna be?"

"You're a bastard when you abuse the common comma, you know that?" was Nadia's reply, as a grin cracked its way into her expression.  
>Aidan merely shrugged. "And that would be a yes. Now c'mon, let's go."<p>

And, with that, the pair of sneasels disappeared into the night, ready to perform their grim task.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, a trio of humans walked along the barely defined forest trail, each shouldering a heavy pack, one of them holding on to a plastic cooler.<p>

"Let's go camping, you say!" said one, a large, hefty male lugging the cooler, "It'll be fun, you say! Phooey!"

"Oh come on, it's not so bad," replied the second, a younger male with a small beret.

"Only issue is we're lost," commented the third, who was perusing a map cautiously, using a lighter to illuminate it.

"Lost? _Lost_?" the younger one shouted, "_I_ happen to be a professional camper! _I_ do not get lost!"

The heavy one sighed, removing a single pokéball from his belt and cradled it close to his face, saying, "At least I've got my precious little Steelfall. He'll protect us from any wild animals we run in to!"

The other two looked at each other, and then, after a few moments of awkward silence, burst out laughing.

He blushed, flustered, and, "What? It's true!"

"Your weakass skarmory?" came a response choked with laughter.

"Screw you…" he mumbled.

* * *

><p>"Now?"<p>

Nadia nodded to her brother. "Now."

"Wait a sec!" Aidan interrupted, causing Nadia to pause with one foot off the ground.

"What?" she demanded, grounding herself.

"… What should I call the kill shot?"

And thus did Nadia facepalm. That is to say, she took her paw and proceeded to cover her eyes with it in order to block the stupidity from her eyesight. This was not the first time she had done so, nor would it be the last. Distressingly, it would become even more common in the future. "It doesn't matter, Aidan. Now come on before I change my mind about this."

"It's unfair to the reader if I don't make this whole scene exciting!" he protested.

Nadia raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"I don't want to do some copout where we just skip ahead to the next scene, completely missing all the fun parts because the author is too lazy to write a simple action sequence! I need to make this exciting, with witty catch phrases and fabulous flourished."

Nadia exhaled deeply. "Aidan, that's not going to happen, because guess what? We're not in a _story_. We're not going to skip ahead, because everything has to _happen_, like in the _real world_."

"Fine," he grumbled glumly with a crossing of his arms. "But it's going to happen eventually, and when it does, they're all going to miss out on a really cool!"

* * *

><p>"Was this all <em>really<em> necessary, Aidan? I can understand the whole "killing them" part, but… What the f%$# is a hadoken?"

Nadia stood behind her brother, looking almost like a mother scolding her child, tapping her foot with her eyes narrowed. Aidan had a childish grin on his face, and replied,

"A: I hate those human words for our skills.  
>B: Hadoken sounds more badass.<br>C: You didn't suggest anything better."

He paused for a moment.

"And D: You're the one holding the spine," he finished, letting some of the icy vapor drip from his claws.

Nadia shrugged, holding up a warm, blood coated human spine. It dripped ominously, and Nadia gave it a curious look. Why was she holding this, again? "A trophy?" she suggested, tossing is aside carelessly. "Didn't have much else on him, anyways."

Aidan approached the now still corpse of the camper, pinned to a tree by a large shard of ice, and then prodded it. "Not much here, either. What about the first?"

Nadia looked at the mutilated corpse of the first man, with a small pile of entrails sitting beside it. She assumed the squishy organs would be lacking in valuables, but she did notice that still in his hand was a pokéball: a tiny, red and white capsule used for storing captured pokémon.

"He's got one of those little balls on him."

"That's what she sai-"

Aidan was silenced by a swift punch to the side of the jaw, delivered by Nadia. Aidan rubbed the side of his face, growling, while Nadia gave the ball a few cautionary prods.

"Don't touch it!" warned Aidan. "It's one of those things… It traps you inside some sort of crazy hell-dimension!"

Nadia simply continued with her investigation, ignoring her brother's words. After a few tense moments, she concluded, "Something's inside."

"But what if it's some sort of freakish hell-dimensional beast or monster?" Aidan protested, waving his arms in the air in some vague attempt at impersonating a terrible beast. Redundantly, he was exactly the sort of terrible beast he was trying to warn her of, but that was somewhat lost on him.

Nadia shot him a sort of 'shut the hell up' glare that could only be exchanged between siblings, and then picked up the ball. It was rather awkward to handle, the ball being round and smooth, and Nadia lacking thumbs. Those joyous appendages that humans often take for granted. Such important apparatuses, and yet at the same time they served a most unthankful job, to lift and to carry and to grip. The poor thumb!

As Nadia mused over the subject of thumbs, holding the ball absent-mindedly between her own claws, Aidan walked over to the corpse of the camper, which was still pinned against the tree, with blood still seeping down across the bark. He hopped on top of the shard of ice, and snatched the beret from the head of the camper. _Not like he has much use for it now, anyways, _he thought, placing the beret on top of his head, over the pink feather. He hopped off the shard of ice, then, upon landing, swiped the ball from Nadia.

"Hey! I was still looking at it!"

Aidan merely held out his hand, his claws pointing straight upward. "Quiet. I know what I'm doing; I've seen this on TV before."

He closed his eyes, harkening back to the days he had spent observing humans and their odd quirks and habits. He pulled the beret downwards and twisted it, then, ball in hand, opened his eyes and shouted, "I choose you!" as loud as he could. With that, he flung the ball into the air.

They watched it sail upwards, arced, and proceeded to land with a thud, doing absolutely nothing.

"Wow," Nadia commented. "That was perhaps the stupidest thing I've seen in a while. Congrats." She crossed her arms, bringing her gaze down upon Aidan, who was turning a shade of red.

"What?" he said, flustered, "I saw humans do it, and it always worked!"

"And _now_ you're listening to what humans do?"

Aidan growled something inaudible as the ball rolled to his feet harmlessly. "The piece of crap…" he mumbled, giving the little red and white ball a well-deserved kick.

To the surprise of both of them, it suddenly sprung open, releasing a red beam of light. The light arced in the air, and then spread out before the two, taking the shape of what looked like an avian creature of some description.

Before them it materialized, a large, grey bird bigger than the both of them combined. Its entire body was covered in smooth, shiny steel, with a sharp point protruding from the top of its head, catching the moonlight. It had a pair of piercing red eyes, which, after darting around sufficiently, fixed themselves on Aidan and Nadia, as if demanding to know who they were, and why they were here.

Nadia brought her claws to her chin, and then nodded sagely. "Skarmory. Must've been that fat guy's."

After a sufficient amount of time spent staring, the skarmory opened its beak-like mouth.

"Whatfatguyhe'smytrainerandwhat'rewedoinghereandwhere'shereanywaysandhowdidIget-OMIGOSHWE'REINAFOREST!" it exclaimed, asked, and commented all in one, hardly distinguishable phrase.

Aidan and Nadia looked at the bird, then two each other, then to the bird again. "What the f&!#?" they both asked in unison.

The skarmory, sensing that it was not going to get an answer, began anew. "I'msteelfallandI'-HEYWHEREISHEANYWAYS?"

Nadia, having made some sense of the creature's rapid speech, answered, "Well… Steelfall, right? Well, your trainer… Um…"

"He's lying face down in a pool of his own blood," Aidan finished, nodding victoriously. "You're free!"

"Whaaaaaat?" Steelfall exclaimed, spreading its wings. It sprung up into the air, flapping its wings as it buzzed about the area, darting back and forth and up and down before locating and landing next to its fallen trainer. "WHYDIDYOUDOTHAT?" It glared at Aidan who, sensing some hostility, scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Well… I… uh… We thought…" He suddenly pointed at Nadia. "It was her I swear! She did it! I wasn't involved at all!"

Nadia facepalmed. "Thanks, Aidan. You're a pal."

Steelfall, now trembling with fury, let out a ferocious screech. The sound, like fingernails on a chalkboard, sliced through the calm night air. It launched itself forward, gliding a foot or so above the ground, set to impale Nadia with its sharp beak.

Not easily caught off guard, Nadia sprung up in the air, pressing her feet up against a branch that hung overhead. It bent backwards, then, with a spring-like motion, snapped back, slinging her straight towards the earth, where Steelfall was speeding by.

Propelled by the force of the branch, as well as by her powerful legs, she careened straight onto the skarmory's back, breaking through the steel skin with a well-aimed blow. If there were a scoring system for overly-complicated yet precise strikes, this would have been a ten out of ten.

Steelfall cried out in pain, crashing to the ground. Nadia, acting as if nothing important had occurred, hopped off its back, and then pretended to dust off her claws. "That was easy," came her comment, "But I think I chipped a claw… Damn steel types." She shook her paw.

Aidan looked to the fallen Skarmory, slightly worried as he prodded the twitching bird. "Think we should bring it back? Leo'll want to know…"  
>"No." Nadia answered, still looking at the fault in her formerly-perfect claws, "It made me hurt myself. No way in hell we're helping it."<p>

As Aidan shrugged, not caring either way, Steelfall stirred, and then sprung to its feet.

"Graaaawk!" it squawked angrily. "! YOUWILLBESORRYWEASELTHING!"

Its warning given, it sped off into the air, and across the night sky.

Aidan, staring upwards as the creature glided off, blinked, a few times, before rubbing his head. "Let's just go back…"

Nadia motioned towards the plastic cooler that the humans had been carrying. "Shouldn't we bring that back with us? Might be some good stuff inside…"

"Fine! Fine! Grab it, let's just go." Aidan already had his back turned to his sister, and was wandering back into the forest.

"Hey! Wait up!" Nadia yelled, jumping back to grab the cooler. It seemed out of place in the middle of the woods. Though it was hard to see in the night's darkness, it was about as big as her, and was blue, with a white lid. "Lazy ass…" she mumbled, then grabbed onto the container's handle, following her brother into the night.

* * *

><p>"You <em>what<em>?"

"See? I told you he'd be pissed…"

"Nadia! Quiet!"

Leofwine was very angry, at the moment. He towered over both Aidan and Nadia, glowering, his bladed arms crossed. He was a very intimidating creature, this gallade, with a tall, white, humanoid frame, and a green helmet-looking thing atop his head. He looked reminiscent of some sort of ancient human soldier, pretty much.

"What in the entire f*%ing _world_ could have gotten you to disobey my explicit orders this blatantly!" he shouted.

"They were trespassing!" protested Aidan, "I didn't want them to stumble across our community, here!"

Nadia snorted. "Yeah, that was your _exact_ reasoning."

Aidan reached out and placed a clawed hand over his sister's mouth.

Leofwine sighed. "You two…"

"Oh Leo…" came a soft voice from behind him. The speaker, a gardevoir, glided forward slowly, and then placed her arm on Leo's shoulder. Like the gallade, she had a humanoid figure, but rather than looking like a soldier, she more resembled a dancer, looking like she was wearing long, flowing gown covering a pair of slender legs. "They were just doing what they thought was right."

"S-sis…" mumbled Leofwine meekly, before giving his head a shake and recomposing himself. "They broke the rules, and we can't let them go unpunished!"

The gardevoir just smiled, and then approached the two sneasels, kneeling before the both of them. "Aidan, Nadia… Why don't you go find that skarmory that ran off? If a trainer raised it, surely it wouldn't be able to survive long in the wild. And besides… Tonight's the night of the summer celebration. I'm sure it'd love to join us."

Aidan blushed, slightly. "Ah… yeah, sure thing, Tyrinitha." He smiled nervously, backing up. "C'mon, Nadia."

Nadia looked at Aidan, then at Tyri, and then shrugged. "You'll always listen to a cute girl, won't you?"

Aidan became an even deeper red. "S-shut up!" he stuttered. "Let's go." He dashed off again into the forest, again leaving his sister behind.

Nadia snickered, and with a casual wave ambled off after her brother.

Leo, with the two now gone, sighed loudly. "Tyri, why do you have to undermine my authority like that?"

"They only did what they thought was best, Leo," Tyri responded, picking a flower from the grass. They both knew that she did this just to annoy him, embarrassing him and then pretending nothing happened, just because they were family. And families always, always, always have to get on each other's nerves. It's an unwritten rule. Leo yelled a lot, and Tyri screwed with him, and they were both all the better for it. And all was right with the world.

"Screw it, I'm going to go get Blake so we can get set up," declared Leo, throwing his hands into the air in resignation.

* * *

><p>A pokémon stood over the cooler previously owned by the hapless travelers, and brought back by Nadia. (Without Aidan's help, she might add. Lazy bastard.) It had the appearance of a reptilian rock, of sorts, and was just barely as tall as that which he paced around. It ambled about the container curiously, looking for an opening of some sort. It was merely following its nature, trying to get into the strange and mystical box, as there might be food inside! Delicious, nutritious food. He was a larvitar, and a young one, at that. And the goal of a larvitar was to eat, grow big and strong, and eventually become the strongest creature ever! Or at least evolve.<p>

Finally, not finding any obvious openings (obvious to it, anyways,) it lowered its head, and rammed the container with the single spike on its rocky head. Weighing in at about one hundred-fifty pounds, this was overkill, really, as it pierced the plastic with ease.

It grinned in triumph, raising its head, cooler still stuck on its spike, thus lifting it above his head.

"Hey! Where'd the box go?" it exclaimed angrily, looking around. Left. Right. Up. Down. Up up down down left right left right B A Start. Nowhere! The box had simply, by all appearances, disappeared from the known universe.

It occurred to the unfortunate larvitar that it must have sent the box into another dimension. It sighed, and sat on the ground, accepting defeat. It began to sob piteously, disappointed from the lack of nourishment or shiny treasure.

But wait! It had newfound dimensional powers! This was, to it, cause for celebration! It couldn't wait to tell Leo and Tyri and Aidan and Nadia and Donovanich and…

Wait. They could be working with the enemy! It sat up, looking around suspiciously. 'Twas better to keep its powers a secret. It was decided, then! The power to send objects to alternate dimensions with its horn must remain a secret to everyone!

… Actually, no, it _needed_ to brag to Donovanich about this.

* * *

><p>"Agrippa, you're wearing a cooler on your head," the sandslash explained simply, removing a pair of stereotypical black sunglasses. "I'm sorry, buddy, you don't have superpowers."<p>

"Lies!" Agrippa, the larvitar, protested angrily, "I do! I really do! Perhaps you shall be on the receiving end of _my_ fantastic horn, Donovani-"

"It's DON!" interrupted the sandslash, the spikes on his back rising up in an attempt to make him look fiercer. "DON!" he repeated. "DON. DON. DON. Why can't anyone in this entire place understand that! I mean, really, is it that hard? Donovanich sounds so… so nerdy! So weak! So pathetic! And Don is so much more badass!" Don was now panting loudly, having tired himself out from ranting. He looked down at Agrippa, and gasped, finally, "Do you understand?"

Agrippa stared at him for a moment, processing this in his young mind. Finally, having reached a suitable conclusion, asked, "Is that why you wear those stupid sunglasses all the time?"

He blushed, flustered, holding the sunglasses in his right claw. "N-no! I'm Don! I-I don't need sunglasses to make me cool, I just have a…a… an eye condition!"

"Just as the large rock creates large ripples in the lake of life, the small rock should create small ripples. This is so, and should always be."

The voice trailed off solemnly, leaving the two arguing pokémon staring, in awe, at the direction of the lake. There floated a solitary figure, staring off vacantly into a body of water. All that could be seen of it was a red sash tied in a bow in the back, as the rest of its body seemed to meld with the mist that constantly rose from the depths of the lake.

"Rin, do you come with subtitles?" asked Don, putting back on his preferred eyewear.

Rin, a froslass, did not make a sound, or even move, in response. She was a like a lighthouse, watching, waiting, observing, all completely devoid of feeling, emotion, and any semblance of a living creature. That was mostly because she was, for all intents and purposes, a ghost, a combination of ice and soul manifested on the mortal plane in the form of a pokémon.

"Rin?" Don repeated.

Silence.

"Rin?"

Still more silence.

"Riiiiiin… What does that meeeaaaan?" whined Agrippa, stressing the vowels in an attempt to garner sympathy. However, ghosts generally don't have much sympathy, and thus his pleas fell upon deaf ears. He hopped in front of her, and began jumping up and down, waving his stubby arms to try and attract her attention.

Still nothing.

Don sighed. "Why's no one in this place _normal_, anyways?"

"Pfft, you're one to talk," said Agrippa.

"The soldier returns."

It didn't look like Rin spoke, or even turned around, but the voice, soft, feminine, and forlorn, proved to be right, as just moments later they heard, "Agrippa! Get over here, _now_!" in the voice of Leo, the dour gallade.

The larvitar moaned, still wanting an explanation from Rin, but surrendered to the will of Leo, and trudged off in the direction of the yell. With the cooler still on his head. This leaving Rin and Don alone, standing by the lake. Well, floating and standing, respectively.

It was quite a beautiful scene, actually. The lake was set in the middle of an absolutely gargantuan forest, and served as a sanctuary of sorts for wandering pokémon. Humans only very rarely explored this deep into the forest, and even rarer was one returning, as many of the creatures that made their homes in the area were hostile, such as Aidan and Nadia. _Especially_ Aidan and Nadia.

Because of this, most of the forest was considered 'off limits' to travelers, making the place a safe haven for pokémon fearing capture. Rising up in the eastern corner of the forest, though, were a range of colossal mountains. The mountains, though, were very much like the forest, being a place that few humans cared to go. However, in a way they were very unlike the forest, as even the most foolhardy of pokémon refused to venture even near the place. It was home to even _more_ creatures of violence and death, and since neither of those things were generally considered particularly pleasant, it was avoided.

Don edged closer to Rin. "… Nice weather we're having?" he asked, hoping the stock phrase would spark conversation.

Rin said nothing and continued her vigil over the lake, ignoring the dejected sandslash in the way only a spirit of ice could.

* * *

><p>"Agrippa, why in the <em>hell<em> are you wearing a cooler on your head?"

Agrippa looked very ridiculous at the moment. He had still yet to remove the cooler, and it was just level with Leo's head.

"Take it off, will you?"

"Yes Leo…" he mumbled, looking very much like a child who'd just been scolded. His gaze drifted downward, not wanting to meet the gallade's eyes, as he tried to reach up to his head and remove the cooler.

_Tried_ is the key word, here. His arms were very short in comparison to his body, and he was unable to reach the container impaled on the horn atop his head.

"I can't." he mumbled, almost inaudible.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Try harder."

Agrippa took a few moments to think, and then began trying to reach the box again. His arms, unfortunately, did not elongate in short period of time he spent thinking, so he was still unable to reach. Realizing that this wasn't working at all, he began to hit the cooler against a nearby tree, hoping to dislodge it.

Leo sighed. Obviously, Agrippa wouldn't be done with this for a while. "I'll just find Blake myself," he mumbled. Now completely engrossed in his task, Agrippa didn't even see him walk off, as he continued butting his head against the thick bark of a tree.

* * *

><p>Blake was sound asleep inside of a hollow tree, breathing slowly in that cute way one would expect a vulpix to. He was kind of like a fox in his body shape, and had a plume of tails all neatly curled in the way that would make girls go 'Awwwww' and guys roll their eyes and try to drag them away, but can't because their girlfriend needs to sit there and admire the 'cute and adorable and fluffy' wild animal who's sleeping nearby, not caring about the fact that vulpixes can breathe fire and other violent things, so the guy has to sit nearby and wait until the girl is sufficiently amused before finally walking off, only to be stopped again by another 'cute and adorable and fluffy' creature, and the process would continue. But I'm not bitter about that sort of thing. Not at all.<p>

But I digress. Blake was a bit 'special.' Most vulpixes had a little tuft of hair on their head, all 'cute and fluffy and adorable,' as people would put it, but Blake preferred to have his hair pressed downward over his face. Specifically, it went to one side, covering one of his eyes.

He got up. He yawned, and then shook out his fur, looking outside the little hole that served as the entrance to his sleeping quarters. Daylight. He growled, and then, after pacing in a circle for a second or two, plopped himself back down.

"Blake! Where are you?"

Blake mumbled something, burying his head in his fur. Other people. He _hated_ other people. Especially Donovanich. That chipper, happy bastard of a sandslash, trying to be his _friend_. Friends. Who needs them?

"Blake! I know you're here somewhere! I need you! NOW!"

Blake growled, and hopped out of the tree, his hair bouncing up for a moment, revealing his covered eye. "Mur. What?" he mumbled.

Leo crossed his arms, keeping his arm blades retracted. "Need you. Come on."

Blake looked at Leo, then back at his tree, and then up at the sun, for a moment. "I don't want to. Too bright. Too cheery. I wish to remain in the dark…"

"Listen. I need you to light the fire by the lake; tonight's the day of the celebration. Me and Tyri are too busy, Rin doesn't move, Agrippa and Don are dumbasses, and I don't want to wait and hope that Pyrros or Jiraar show up. Not to mention, I don't trust _either_ of them not to kill someone while they're here."

"I'm not a tool," responded Blake, keeping his head low to the ground, "I have my own thoughts, and my own dreams. Things _I_ want to do, I don't have to listen to _you_. I don't _conform_ to your damn _rules_."

Leo glared at him.

"Fine," the vulpix growled, defeated. Now he had to _socialize_ with _others_. He slinked off in the direction of the lake, grumbling about the downfall of society, and how he hated everyone, and how he was so oppressed and miserable and everything was terrible, awful, and horrible.

* * *

><p>Agrippa continued to struggle against the plastic cooler that remained atop his head. Over an hour had passed since Leo told him to remove the object from his body, and over the course of that hour he had made little, if any, progress.<p>

Of course, _this_ plan was foolproof.

Perching himself high up on top of a tree, he wobbled slightly as he tried to maintain his balance. How he made it up there in the first place is a mystery, really. He spread his arms wide, ready to dive from his post to the open ground. _His_ rock hard body was nigh impervious to impact, but the cooler was not, and (hopefully) would break on impact. Absolutely brilliant. He dove.

Agrippa knew little of physics, however, and whilst in descent his body, being much denser, heavier, and less wind-resistant than the cooler, flipped around, sending him plummeting feet first towards the ground.

Well, _towards_ the ground, but he didn't end up reaching it. Instead, while his body passed a pair of branches, the cooler did not, jamming itself in between. Oddly enough, the force of the impact _still_ did not loosen the cooler, nor did it break the branches, so he found himself dangling in the air, with his head between the two limbs.

"… Uh oh…" he gulped, assessing the situation. This was not good for him, he quickly concluded. "Help… Help! HEEEEEELP!" he began to shout, shaking himself violently to get the cooler loose.

Nothing.

"Someoooooooone! Leo! Rin! Tyri! Don! Anyone!"

He could hear a cricket chirp in response. Things were not looking up.

But then he spied Blake walking below him. No. No way. Not Blake. No way in _hell_ he was going to ask the emo vulpix for help. He was not going to let him do anything for him! No way, no how!

Of course, he was dangling from a tree branch by his head. Situations like these have a strange way of changing someone's qualifications for help.

"Hey! Hey! Blake? Blake? Blaaaaaake!"

Blake stopped, and looked around.

"Hey you stupid emo jer-" He had to stop himself. "Blake! Up here!"

Blake looked up; his hair still draped over one eye. "That's one way to hang yourself," he commented blandly, and continued walking.

"Blake! You jerk get back here! BLAKE!" He waved his arms vigorously, but Blake kept on walking.

Agrippa made a mental note to hurt Blake in the future.

"Hey Blake. What're you doing out here?"

"I was told to light the fire. But it shall never warm my soul…"

Don blinked twice before nodding slowly. "Oh. Right. Of course."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two. Awkward, awkward silence, the kind that could only be shared between a vulpix and a sandslash. Once it had ended, Blake slunk over to a pile of sticks in the shape of a bonfire, took a deep breath, and shot a stream of fire from his mouth, setting the sticks alight. A fire. Whoop-dee-bloody-do. He stared at his work for around a minute, and then at Don, and then at Rin, who was still gazing over the lake, and then back to the fire.

"Man, I just lost the game," mumbled Don gloomily.

Blake blinked, uncomprehending. "Game?"

"The point of the game is that you can't think about the game… Or else you lose the game," sighed Don.

"What's the point of that?" growled Blake unappreciatively.

"There isn't a point. You just lose, no matter what."

"That's even more depressing than I am."

The two stared off into nothing, each working with their own thoughts.

"The flickering fire as the sun, and the young son of fire as its keeper. Though one embraces the darkness, the other seeks to dispel, and as such, the keeper and his work are soon enemies," Rin's voice drifted over, as cryptic as ever.

Blake looked down at the ground, acting depressed.

"Hey, Blake…" Don said comfortingly, patting Blake on the shoulder, "C'mon, cheer up! It's the day of the celebration! And the weather's great!" he gestured to the sky, which was clear and blue, with the sun just beginning to descend from its position overhead.

The vulpix looked up at Don, then to the sun, and then back at the ground. "The sun is merely a black hole waiting to happen. I feel no warmth. Only despair, Donovanich… Only despair…"

"Don!" he cried, "My _name_ is Don! Why can't anyone in this goddamn forest get it right? DON!" He threw his claws up in anger.

"The ant who attempts every problem on his way to the hill solves none and never makes it home."

"I wish I had a home." Blake laid his head against the dirt, staring into the fire. One could practically feel the aura of negativity that surrounded the distraught vulpix as it sat there, doing absolutely nothing other than acting emo.

Don just slammed his face into the ground, thinking that if he couldn't see it, it'd just go away. Go far, far away. Somewhere where people cared about emo foxes and proverb-spewing ghosts. But unfortunately, he was stuck here with them, and they were stuck here with him. Why did life suck this badly?

* * *

><p>Of all the things in the world this particular nidoking enjoyed, sleep was most likely the highest on the list. Eating was a close second, with hot baths taking the coveted third position. Light reading was the fourth. At this moment, though, he was enjoying his favorite activity, and enjoying it thoroughly. Jiraar snoozed peacefully beneath a tree, perhaps dreaming of taking a hot bath, or eating some small, helpless creature. In any case, he was in a good mood, for once.<p>

But of course, good things aren't allowed to last for Jiraar.

Of all the things in the world this particular nidoking did not enjoy, his 'friend' Pyrros topped the list. Coming in second was people interrupting him performing one of his favorite activities, followed by losing anything to anyone as number three. Bland hot sauce was the fourth.

"Jrrurr! Wruup! Nrrurrenrr! Irruuheh!"

This muffled outburst, however unintelligible, managed to rouse the sleeping nidoking. His purple, armored tail curled, slightly, and he squeezed his eyes closed as tight as possible in order to prevent seeing number one of his most hated things in all the world. "Go away, Pyrros, I'm sleeping. Whatever you want, we'll do it later."

"Brrurur! Urnurrungurru! Irruheheh!"

Having two of the items on his most hated list appear already, he dreaded opening his eyes to check if the third had reared its head as well. And yet it was against his personality to avoid things he feared, so he was forced to open his eyes.

The first thing in his line of sight, unfortunately, was a large, orange, draconic head. One could only assume it belonged to a charizard. And if it belonged to a charizard, then it most likely belonged to Pyrros. And if it belonged to Pyrros, then it most likely meant something stupid was occurring.

Something stupid was indeed occurring, as Pyrros had something in his mouth. Multiple somethings, in fact. It appeared that Pyrros, somehow, had managed to fit no less than two rattata and a pikachu into his maw. "Nnhnneh!" he exclaimed in victory, nodding his head.

"… You managed to fit two rattata and a pikachu into your mouth. Congratulations."

"Rnhn?"

Jiraar sighed, pushing himself to his feet. He honestly thought that task would be impossible enough to keep Pyrros occupied for a long, long while. "Yes, that means you've won the bet."

"Hnrhrhn!" The charizard threw his hands into the air, clearly joyous to have achieved victory. He slammed his mouth closed with a sickening crunch, attempting to gulp down the unfortunate creatures to further revel in his triumph.

'Attempting' finds itself to be a key word, here. It is commonly considered a rule of the physical world that an object cannot fit into a space in which it is bigger than. Such a rule, however, apparently did not occur to the unfortunate charizard as it strained to keep its jaw closed.

"Unshtuk!" Pyrros declared, flailing his arms about wildly in an attempt to convey his apparent discomfort.

"Oh, isn't that a shame." Jiraar tilted his head back down, suppressing a dry smirk at his friend's plight. "You poor thing."

The charizard had ceased his flailing and muffled cries in favor of grasping at his throat, by this point, as the bulge that was his victims began to make its way down his throat, effectively cutting off any oxygen that attempted to enter or escape his body.

"You're choking again, aren't you?"

His friend nodded meekly, trying to maintain a façade of comfort as tears began welling up in his eyes.

"Yeah, you're on your own this time."

Sadly, this wasn't the first time Pyrros was having difficulties due to putting strange objects in his mouth, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

* * *

><p>Aidan looked up the tall, tall tree with a sense of amazement. If one had an overhead view of the forest, this particular structure would be jutting out noticeably, being nearly twice the height of the surrounding foliage. The very sight of it was enough to inspire lines upon paragraphs upon pages of poetry, enough to satisfy the most wordy and intelligent of a writer. The friendly visage of its ancient leaves was calming, soothing, and thousands of other peaceful words that had yet to even be created yet.<p>

"I'm hungry," stated the sneasel.

"You're _always_ hungry," replied Nadia, staring up at the very same tree.

"Think any pidgey eggs are up there? It's been for_ever_ since we've had good pidgey eggs."

She elbowed him into silence, glaring, and then shouted up to the tree, "Hellooooo! Anyone up there?"

There was a flurry of activity and hurried whispers as the branches rustled, and tiny shadows dashed about, hiding, or perhaps just preparing to defend their tree. The two sneasels looked to each other, then back up to the tree.

"We're looking for a skarmory!"

Silence.

"Name's Steelfall?"

A bit of rustling.

"He doesn't shut up? Ever?"

Finally, a head poked out. Unfortunately, it was not a skarmory, but a pidgeot, as evidenced by a lack of steel plating on its bird-like head. It quickly squawked, "We sent him away! Now go! We don't like your kind here!" before retreating back into the cover of the tree.

Sneasels and avian pokémon were not exactly the best of friends. It was kind of expected, as the preferred food of sneasels happened to be eggs, and most birds took offense to their young being used as sustenance. It was a vicious conflict, really, with both sides considering themselves in the right, but it didn't matter all too much to Aidan or Nadia, as they had more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Well that was helpful," mumbled Aidan, kicking at the leaves that coated the forest floor, "Can we go, now? I'm still hungry. And I don't want to miss the celebration tonight!"

Nadia growled, "Aidan, as much as you know I _love_ to be out here, Tyri told us to find this f*$ing skarmory!" She raised a clawed paw, approaching her brother menacingly, her voice escalating, "And you know what? We wouldn't be _out_ here in the first place if you hadn't had to 'score some human food' by ambushing those f&!ing travelers and f!&%ing making me fight that f&%#ing skarmory and now we're going to miss the f#%ing celebration all because _you_ can't control your f!%ing bloodlust you bloody f#%$ing goddamn _moron_!"

She was now panting, her face right up next to Aidan's, holding her claws up to his face.

Aidan slowly put his claws against hers and pushed them down, saying, "Now is not the time to point fingers."

"I hate you."

He shook his head, "Anyways, as always, _I_ have a solution. We simply tell Tyri that it died in the wilderness, or got captured by a trainer. Problem solved!" He nodded sagely, satisfied with his 'brilliant' plan. He did, however, find his eyes wandering back towards the tree. "I'm still hungry, though…" He licked his lips, cooking up yet another "brilliant" plan.

* * *

><p>"My lazy friend, I believe we have found the lake!" Pyrros exclaimed happily, pushing aside a row of branches. The charizard walked through, holding the strained pieces of wood back, and then, upon passing, released them, causing them to whip back and bash his companion across the face.<p>

Jiraar sprawled backwards. "You idiot!" the nidoking shouted while rubbing his nose, growling, and then followed Pyrros into the clearing where a blazing bonfire was lit, with Don and Blake sitting nearby.

As usual, Rin remained at her post by the lake, undisturbed by the overly loud entry of the two pokémon. Don, however, scrambled to his feet, looking in their direction nervously. Blake apathetically glanced in their direction, but returned to his usual depressing state after assessing that they were no threat.

"Hello!" stated Pyrros cheerfully, followed by a halfhearted grunt by Jiraar. "Is Sir Leo about?"

Seeing as how no one else was going to answer, with Rin being engrossed in her vigil, and Blake being too antisocial, Don took it upon himself to deliver a response. "He's off with Tyri… He's… um… supposed to be back… soon," he looked about nervously, not wanting to incur the wrath of a charizard.

After gauging the poor sandslash's reaction, Pyrros laughed. It was expected, really, as most charizards were not exactly friendly types. It didn't help at all that his snout was glazed ever so slightly with blood, along with his claws, a fact that became even more apparent as his great maw was open in laughter. "Oh, little Sandslash…" he controlled his laughter to the point where only a grin remained, and shut his eyes. He opened them slowly, with a sharp intake of air. "… I have already lunched, so you should not worry so much! Do calm yourself!"

This did not do much to calm the nerves of poor Donovanich, who continued cowering by the fire. Jiraar sighed, rolling his eyes, and then mumbled, a hand still on his nose, "Almost died in the process, too."

Pyrros delivered a sharp kick to Jiraar's shin in order to shut him up, but it didn't work. Instead, there was a slight 'chink' of one of his nails cracking against the armored skin followed by a muffled squeak of discomfort.

"In two, in three, in ten, in a hundred, it matters not. The Whole is all that remains when the conflict has ended," the emotionless voice of Rin echoed over. The mere sound of it was so biting, so icy, that Pyrros shivered, Jiraar winced, and even Blake, lying by the fire, twitched ever so slightly. Freakin' froslasses.

The mutual feeling of discomfort subsided, slowly, as the group stood, doused in the awkward silence. "Oh, Lady Rin! It is so nice to see you again!" exclaimed Pyrros, shattering the silence with his expression of greeting.

As usual, there was no response from Rin, who continued floating in front of the lake. So, Pyrros continued, "It is an absolutely beautiful day, is it not?" He paused, waiting for a reaction. "And yet, even this lovely day is eclipsed by the purity of your form."

Why no one ever got the hint that Rin had no interest in them, not even this narrator knows. Regardless, that did not stop Pyrros. "'Tis truly an honor, nay, a blessing… No, an act of divine wonder that I should have the once in a lifetime chance of experiencing your beauty firsthand. 'Tis so… so…"

"Plan on getting a room, Pyrros?" snorted Jiraar.

Donovanich began to laugh, but quickly stifled it as Pyrros' glare fell on him, and then on the offending nidoking, who was grinning as if nothing was wrong. Not finding words appropriate enough to express his displeasure, he merely mumbled a few profane phrases under his breath, and sat down next to Blake, staring into the fire.

Tyri slowly glided into the glade where the group of Pokémon was sitting by the fire. "Hello, everyone!" the gardevoir exclaimed happily with a wave.

Jiraar, arms crossed, and his back against a tree trunk, looked at her with a casual indifference. "Mornin', Tyri."

"Mornin'?" repeated Tyri, with a slight giggle, "It's past noon already, silly!"

The nidoking shrugged.

"Ah, Lady Tyri!" came a shout from Pyrros, "It is so good to see you again!" The romantic creature dashed to her side, wrapping her thin body in his arms with a bear hug.

Don looked around and, upon not finding Leo, hopped to his feet. "Wasn't Leo with you?"

"Ohhhh I don't know…" she smiled, slipping out of Pyrros' grip, "He had some firewood, and didn't want my help with it! Go figure!"

At that moment, a large pile of sticks, with a white pair of legs beneath them, wobbled into the glade. "Back..." the pile panted. It stumbled over to the fire, and collapsed in front of it, next to Blake. Out from the pile climbed Leo, who proceeded to dust himself off. The gallade looked to the group, and then asked, "Are all the regulars here?"

"I think so…" Tyri responded, looking around, "Rin, Blake, Donovanich-"

"DON!"

"Pyrros, Jiraar, you and me… Hm. Where're Aidan and Nadia?"

"You sent them to go find that skarmory, remember?" mumbled Leo, thinking back to their previous encounter.

"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about that," she admitted, scratching the back of her neck. "I thought they'd be back by now."

"I'm sure wherever they are, they're fine…"

* * *

><p>"Well I didn't think they'd see me!"<p>

Aidan vaulted over a fallen log and flattened himself up against it, next to his sister. Both were breathing heavily, having been running for the past ten minutes.

"See, now, that's the problem!" yelled Nadia in return, "You don't _think_ at all! You never think!"

"That's not true, and you know that," he replied. "I just think with my stomach."

Nadia sighed. That didn't change the situation in the slightest. "Does your _stomach_ think that fearow's gone, yet?"

A long, slender beak piercing through the log between them confirmed otherwise. The two sprinted off, dodging through the forest, their pursuer at their heels the entire way. If they could make it back to where Leo and the others were, they'd be safe. But, in their hurry, it was nigh impossible to path a suitable route back. But really, this probably isn't the worst situation the sneasel twins have ever been in.

"We need a plan," panted Nadia, dodging an overhanging branch.

"No kidding." He looked ahead. "We could split up?" Aidan suggested.

"Alright…" Nadia looked ahead, and pointed to a large tree. "There. You go left, I go right."

"Gotcha. Don't die!"

"You're not allowed to either."

For a moment the two locked hands. They then pulled apart, each heading on their separate path through the forest.

* * *

><p>"That rock thing's not here, either," added Jiraar.<p>

"The larvitar? Agrippa?" clarified Leo. "Oh. Yeah. Agrippa. I asked him to take that cooler off his head."

Blake's ear twitched, at the mention of the larvitar. It may have occurred to him that he should tell Leo where the annoying rock was, but that would mean having to _help_. And helping others, especially an annoying child, was a pain in the ass.

"You honestly expect Agrippa to handle something as simple as that without breaking something?"

* * *

><p>Agrippa felt a sneeze coming on. He sniffled, trying to stifle it, ignoring the ever growing itch forming in his nasal cavity. He inhaled deeply, sucking in as much air as possible, and finally calmed down. The sneeze, as spontaneous body functions are 'ought to do, returned in full force, and the young creature fell victim. "Aaaachoo!" he sneezed, snapping his head downward.<p>

This sudden shift in pressure was all the poor branches could take, as they snapped, simultaneously, sending Agrippa, cooler on head, back on his trip to the ground. Luckily, the downward jerk had put him falling headfirst, so when he finally impacted the ground it had the desired effect, the cooler shattering due to the constant abuse.

Immediately he jumped to his feet, giving each of his limbs a quick test shake before celebrating. "Woohoo! Finally!" he cheered, looking around at the remains of the cooler. In truth, it was less a matter of reward, now, than it was of pride, what with the cooler having offended and humiliated him. And now it was dead, or, well, as dead as an inanimate object could be.

However, just because it was a matter of pride didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy a reward.

He sifted through the wreckage, finding mostly shards of plastic and melting ice. Nothing useful, unfortunately. He felt about ready to cry as he climbed atop a particularly large chunk of ice, melancholy and forlorn, and closed his eyes. Why was life being so mean to him? He sniffled in a most pathetic manner.

A particular spark of his spidey sense (or, in this case, larvitar sense) caused him to open them a split second later. A little piece of something shiny caught his eye. Perhaps this wasn't a waste of effort after all! He hopped to his feet and waddled over to his little sparkly treasure, pulling it from the ice and plastic. It could be a fabulous treasure! Or jewelry! Or, even better, food! Glorious, magnificent food! His mind raced as he freed the object, observing it.

It was shiny, that was for sure. But it wasn't really treasure. Or jewelry. It didn't look very tasty, either. It was kind of like a cylinder, with a little tab at the top. As he examined it, it occurred to him that perhaps his treasure was on the inside! Yes, surely, this must be the case, he thought, prodding the shiny cylinder of wonder. But how would he open it? He could ask Rin, she'd know… But she'd want it for herself! At all costs, he must not lose his newfound treasure.

… Maybe Don knew…

The sun was just beginning to set as Agrippa hopped into the glade gleefully, his treasure in hand. "I return victorious!" the larvitar exclaimed, holding the cylinder in the air.

No one seemed to care. Blake was emoing by the fire, Tyri was arranging a large pile of food in a fancy looking fashion, Rin was (as always) floating in front of the lake, Leo was helping Pyrros set up a crude table of some sort, and Jiraar was sleeping at the foot of a tree. Not a single one turned at the announcement of his arrival, probably because none of them really could be bothered to at the time.

Wait. Don! Where was Don?

He looked about.

Nothing.

Damn! Now how was he going to enjoy his treasure? He sniffled. He just wanted to see what was inside his cylinder of wonder and mysticism. And now it would be lost forever to him, evil, taunting. Stupid thing! He tossed it up in the air, and began to cry. He looked exceedingly pathetic (sensing a pattern, yet?) as the cylinder landed in the grass before him, while he bawled his eyes out.

"Um… Agrippa? What's wrong?"

He turned, his eyes still watery, to see the source of the voice. It was Don! Immediately his demeanor changed as he hugged, or, well, half hugged, since his arms didn't reach, the sandslash. "I thought you were gone forever and I'd never be able to open my cylinder of wonders!" he exclaimed, overcome with emotion.

Don lowered his sunglasses, slightly, looking down at Agrippa. "... What?"

Agrippa hopped over to the fallen cylinder. "I don't know how to open it!" He held the item up for Don to see.

Don looked at it, cocking his head to the side, and then grasped it. "I… I think I might know…" He examined the foreign object from all angles, and finally concluded, "Maybe if you give it a good shake…"

He shook the thing vigorously, for a few seconds.

Nothing.

"Maybe the nidoking knows?" suggested Agrippa, as Don continued to shake the can vigorously.

"Go get him," grunted Don, continuing to shake it.

Agrippa bounded towards the sleeping Jiraar with reckless force, as if his entire life had new purpose. He skidded to a stop just before him. "Hey! Hey! Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey!" he shouted, jumping up and down.

Jiraar cracked one eye open. "What?" the nidoking growled.

"I need you to open something for me!"

"No," came his response as he shut his eyes again.

"But… but…" stuttered Agrippa, his eyes welling up with tears. Soon he erupted into earsplitting wailing, while the nidoking continued to snooze, uncaring.

"Agrippa, what's taking so long?" said Don, as he approached the two, still shaking the cylinder.

Agrippa hiccupped, pointing accusingly at Jiraar. "He won't help!"

Don glared at the subject of said pointing. "Hey, Jiraar! Listen!" he shouted.

Jiraar showed no signs of listening or caring.

"I'm talking to you!" he nearly screamed, tossing the item at his head. There was a loud clunk as it made impact, and rolled off into the grass.

Don realized he may have made a very, very bad mistake. He gulped.

Jiraar cracked an eye open, growling. "You want the damn can opened so badly? Well..." he grabbed the fallen cylinder and began to toss it up and down in his outstretched hand. "Go get it!" He threw it with alacrity, leaving his two antagonists staring, mouths agape, as it flew through the air...

...Straight towards Pyrros' head.

* * *

><p>"Now... gently... We don't want to crush my leg," mumbled Leo, as he held one end of a large log that had been sliced in two, making a long, wooden surface. "... Again..."<p>

The gallade just wanted everything to go well, for once. Every year, without fail, there would be some sort of catastrophe to keep the summer celebration from being a success. Never was it his fault, though. It was always some sort of cosmic coincidence or act of celestial spite that kept things from going right. For all the setbacks, though, things were at least going remotely well this time. For now.

"I assure you, Sir Leo, that I always act with the utmost caution!" replied Pyrros, moving his end of the log over a small stump that had had a crescent sliced into it, perfect for holding up a table. The charizard's insistence was suspiciously specific, and this worried poor Leo.

"Would you cut it with the 'Sir' stuff?" the gallade added, slowly lowering the log onto the stump. "The Renaissance ended long ago, if you hadn't noticed."

"Ah, but Sir Leo! You have all the knightly virtues that make you worthy of the title, Si-"

There was a loud crack as the can, having finished its arc, came crashing down on the back of Pyrros' neck. He yelped, hopping up and simultaneously dropping the log, which, luckily, fell into place atop the stump.

Pyrros turned, angrily, looking for the cause of his discomfort. It was then that he saw Don and Agrippa rushing forward with Agrippa immediately reclaiming his fallen treasure and cradling it like a newborn, and Don deciding to stop a good three yards away, noticing Pyrros' evident rage.

"Which of you is responsible for this?" he roared, glaring down at the two of them.

Agrippa was far too busy celebrating the return of his treasure, so the task of answering fell to Don, again, who slowly inched forward. Why was everyone getting mad at him, today? "Well… Um, you see… There's this container, and we were trying to open it, and Jiraar…" He looked at the ground, and kicked up a bit of dirt. "… Sorry?"

Pyrros sighed, and his gazed softened, as he looked upon Agrippa, who was completely absorbed in the care of his little cylinder. "Well, you're not going to open it by throwing it, little ones…" He reached over and took the can from Agrippa, and pointed to a small, metal tab on top of it, "You simply have to pull this tab, like so!" To demonstrate, he hooked a talon around the tab, and gave it a sharp tug.

It didn't budge.

"Hm… That is certainly rather queer," he commented, jiggling the tab a bit.

"Alright, what in the hell are you all doing here?" exclaimed Leo, having finished assessing any damage to the table they had just created.

Pyrros held the can out for Leo to see. "We are making attempts in trying to open this metal container, but, well, it refuses to yield!"

Don and Agrippa nodded in affirmation.

Leo just sighed, and snatched the can from Pyrros' grip. "You're all idiots," he commented, fitting his hand underneath the tab of the well-shaken container. "_This_ is how you do it!"

He yanked the tab up, breaking the can's seal. Of course, the carbonated beverage inside, being true to its nature, and now free of its tiny prison, burst forth, dousing the unfortunate gallade's face in a cool, sticky liquid.

Sometimes it's the classic gags that are the most effective.

Agrippa and Don tried fervently to hide their smiles, nearly cracking up with laughter. Leo stared, seething anger within him welling up, as the liquid dripped off of him. He spit out a small stream of it and growled, "You have five seconds."

The pair looked at each other, and, with a quick exchange of facial expressions, dashed off towards Tyri, who had just finished arranging an assortment of fruits.

* * *

><p>It was quiet…<p>

Too quiet…

Aidan whipped around, brandishing his lethal claws in the fading sunlight. Nothing, fortunately, was behind him, causing him to sigh with relief. "Well, I'm safe," he mumbled to no one in particular. "Guess the only thing to do now is to finish this sentence uninterrupt…ED" Another sudden turn, this one yielding a claw stuck into a tree trunk. "… Guess no one else is here…" he said to himself.

The exhausted sneasel slid down against the tree, relaxing his breathing. He'd run for _hours_, already, and only just lost the fearow. But what about Nadia? One would think, after discovering that she was not being pursued, she would turn back and try and meet back up with her brother.

He shrugged. Clearly, she had run into trouble of some kind and it was up to him, as the dominant male of the family, to rescue her. Yes, of course, trouble. A marauding pokémon, perhaps, or an irate trainer. She would be pinned down, trapped behind a rock or a stump, or something, while her attacker inched closer, and closer, and closer, before…

Bam! In he'd come, to slay the trainer or pokémon and save the day! It was a perfect, foolproof plan. He nodded, commending himself on his brilliance. He'd be the hero _and_ do what was morally right, for once. He wouldn't make a habit of that last one, though.

He was so caught up in his wild fantasy, that he didn't even notice how tired he was getting. Really tired, actually. Unnaturally tired. Kinda almost like… like…

He slumped to the ground, his feet refusing to take him any farther. The ground was comfortable, he decided. Very comfortable. Maybe he would just sleep here, and go find Nadia in the morning. Yes, that would be a good idea… He'd go find Leo, too, and Tyri, and enjoy the celebration, or something…

He was fast asleep.

"_Good job, Hypno. Little bugger's completely out of it._" A rather generic man approached the body of the sleeping sneasel, and gave it a swift kick to the side.

There was no reaction. He grinned, and turned to his companion, a hypno. "_Boss'll want us back, soon. Let's get going…_" He put a hand in his pocket, fishing around, before cursing, "_Damn it! Out of pokéballs!_" He kicked the ground angrily, muttering more obscenities, before ordering, "_Just carry it back to the truck, Hypno. Put it back to sleep if it tries anything!_"

Hypno simply nodded, and then approached the sleeping sneasel, and tossed him over its shoulder. It grunted in affirmation, holding up its catch for the man to see. The man looked Aidan over and just smiled, commenting, "_Good, good… People're always wanting to see a good sneasel fight. Nasty little buggers, they are. Exceptionally violent, though, but… That works to our advantage now, don't it?"_

They both chuckled and, with Hypno right behind him, the man began his return to civilization, his catch in tow.

* * *

><p>Leo looked over the assembled pokémon of the forest, perhaps with pride, or perhaps just because there was nothing else to look at. There were at least fifty, maybe a hundred, ranging across many species, types, and natures. A butterfree floated carelessly by a dustox, who was looking down at an aron who in turn was making idle conversation with a diglett who just happened to be passing by while looking for a geodude, who was busy discussing the difference between igneous and sedimentary rocks with a ponyta.<p>

Leo stood up on a large (igneous) rock and raised his arm high, the blade retracted. Slowly the crowd quieted, allowing him to begin. "Well, good evening, everyone!" he started, smiling, "First I'd like to thank you all for coming to our summer celebration…"

There was a cheer of approval from the audience that took a few moments to subside.

"As you may or may not know, I'm Leofwine. A gallade. I basically organize this celebration. Now, when we first came up with the idea to open up this area as a sanctuary for everyone to enjoy, Tyri and I…"

Meanwhile, as Leo went on with his speech, Agrippa clamored at one of the impromptu tables, trying to reach the top with his stubby little arms. "Come on come on come oooooon…" he whined, hopping up and down. The table was a good one and a half feet off the ground: Just high enough for him to see over, but unfortunately not low enough for him to reach the delicious food atop it.

He kicked the table. As with everything the larvitar had ever done in anger, this accomplished absolutely nothing. "Stupid table," he muttered, "Keeping me from my food… I _like_ food…"

A single caterpie slowly inched its way up the table, stopping at the top to munch on an apple. This really only served to heighten Agrippa's indignation, as he began attempting to climb up with renewed vigor. With a mighty leap he grabbed onto the edge. Stage one was complete. Now all he had to do was hoist himself atop the table (Stage 2), ? (Stage 3) and profit (Stage 4)!

One thing you may not know about larvitar is that they tend to weigh somewhere along the lines of a hundred and some pounds. This, of course, does not lend itself well to pulling one's self up a ledge, so…

He fell to the grass with a thud, dazed. It didn't really hurt, he had felt worse, before, but now he was rather sad. All he wanted to do now was lay there and wait, listening as Leo's speech droned over him.

"…And, as a reminder, I would like to suggest you refrain from eating each _other_ this evening…"

An orange, draconic head came into his line of sight. "Little Agrippa! Pray tell, why do you make your bed here, at the foot of this wonderful feast, when there is a celebration to be held?" it said with a quizzical glance.

_Pyrros, Pyrros…_ Agrippa thought about the situation for a moment. "Pyrros!" he shouted aloud while clamoring to his feet, and pointed up the table. "Help! I want to get the food on the table but the table is too high and there's food on top of it so I wanted to get up and I tried to climb up but I wasn't strong enough and I fell and landed on the ground and here I am now and I still don't have any fooooood." He ended his statement with a pathetic frown, coupled with that sad, puppy dog look one would often get from small children.

"…In addition, Rin is _not_ looking for a romantic partner at this point in time, so please stop asking…"

Pyrros contemplated Agrippa's dilemma. "Hmm… Perhaps, my diminutive friend, I may be able to assist you with your quest."

Don nursed a large bump on his head, sipping from the can he had 'convinced' Leo to return to him. Not so much 'convinced,' really. The gallade didn't require much convincing. He had been more than happy to return their metal container… In the manner of throwing it. Very hard. And impacting the sandslash's forehead. He muttered something, angrily. At the very least, his sunglasses remained intact… Although it was getting hard to see with them, as nightfall approached.

"Alright, Don, I'm back, I'm back… Found some of the herbs I was looking for." Tyri approached the rather pathetic-looking sandslash, a bundle of plants in her hands. "And I _told_ you not to rub at it! That's how they get infected! You'll get brain cancer, or something."

"Yeah, yeah… I won't." Don put his hands at his side.

Tyri smiled. "Good! Now, hold still, I'll apply some of this…" As she said this, one of the herbs seemed to melt in her hand into a smooth, greenish gel.

Don swallowed. Come to think of it, if anything was going to be giving him brain cancer, it'd probably be having a pair of herb-melting-magical hands being near his head. "Um… Actually, I think it's feeling better. No need to waste any of that... uh, stuff on it…" He scooted back an inch, a nervous grin on his face.

"Oh come now," chastised Tyri. "You'll need it. It'll make you feel better." She slid forward slowly.

Don responded with more backwards movement. "No, no. It's fine, really!" his back hit the tree, and his head with it, causing him to yelp with the sudden spike of pain.

"See! It's just going to hurt you more if you struggle."

"No I'm fine, I'm fiiii-ooooooow!"

Tyri had lunged forward, literally slapping the gel on his head. "Oh, um, sorry," she apologized. "It's my first time trying this. I think I might've missed, though. Let me try again…"

"No no no! Off! Off me!"

"You need it! Though your body may reject it, it'll help you feel better."

"Stop it!... Oh, actually, that kinda feels goo- OW!"

"I'm sorry! I slipped."

"Slipped? Now look, you got it all over my face, and my nose, and…"

"You were struggling too much!"

"You'd be struggling too, if I were on top of you trying to smear this stuff all over me!"

"Well, I think it feels nice, the whole process. Soothing for the mind, body, and soul. This will keep you from being too stressed out!"

It was at that moment that Jiraar stumbled across the scene. He took it in, for a few moments. Tyri, the attractive gardevoir, on top of Don, the whiny sandslash. Don covered with an unknown liquid, traces of it visible on Tyri as well. This, coupled with the conversation he had overheard moments earlier, caused him to simply stare at the two.

"This is totally not what it looks like."

"I'll leave you be. Have 'fun,' you two," said Jiraar with a smirk.

As Jiraar trudged off, Don stared, a shocked expression on his face. Little gears in his brain turned, slowly at first, but rapidly picking up speed. _Wait… If he thinks me… And Tyri… And he runs into Leo, and Leo thinks… that… we…_

He came to a conclusion. "Jiraar! WAIT!" He scrambled to his feet and dashed off after the nidoking, leaving Tyri all by her lonesome. "WAAAAAIT!"

* * *

><p><em>Darkness, swirling torrents of misery, fear, torment.<em>

_My mind, my soul, they weep, cry, wail for me._

_Burns into hatred. Emotion. Despair._

_No one understands me._

Blake placed a single paw print below his masterpiece, scanning it with a sense of pride. The large slab of rock, situated conveniently away from prying eyes, served as the perfect place to express his emotions. Dozens of fairly depressing writings were strewn across the surface, all authored by the morbid little vulpix.

"Someday they'll find this, after I'm gone. And then they'll know how I feel. They'll _know_. And they'll all feel so bad for making fun of me. For mocking me! And then they'll feel as miserable as I do!" he ranted aloud, the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes.

As if to ruin his little moment, into the little grove came crashing Don, his sunglasses askew, panting heavily. "Oh… oh god… Jiraar… Don't tell… Leo…"

Blake stared at him, a look of disgust on his face. He growled, prompting Don to look up at him, exhausted. "What are _you_ doing here? Don't tell Leo what?"

"Jiraar thinks I _did_ Tyri!" he blurted out.

Blake turned back to his poetry.

"No, seriously!"

"Like you would ever get a girl. Let alone have sex with one."

This was, Don had to admit, fairly good evidence that he did not, in fact, 'do' Tyri. That didn't stop him from feeling offended, however. He slumped to the ground, depressed. "Whatever…"

"Why aren't you with the others, anyways?"

"Leo bitch slapped me with a can of something…" He rubbed his head, remembering the impact of the can with painful clarity. "What about you?"

A single eye's glare back at Don reminded him of why.

"Oh… What's all this, then?" He walked up to the wall of poetry, giving a quizzical blink as he read over the text on the wall. "'My heart bleeds with the agony of desperation'-"

Blake tackled him to the ground, throwing his full weight against the nosy sandslash. "No! You're not allowed to read it!" He kept his paws over Don's eyes, attempting to keep his prying pupils from his masterpieces. However, the lack of struggling eventually caused him to hop off his acquaintance.

… He wasn't moving. At all.

"Don? Don? Doooon…?" Blake called out, prodding him with his foot. "… Uh oh."

* * *

><p>"So, in conclusion, I'd like to thank all of you: friends, family, and even strangers, for coming, tonight. And, without further ado…"<p>

A deafening crash caused every head in the crowd to turn towards the back, near where much of the food was laid out on makeshift wooden tables. One of them, in particular, was snapped in half, a cloud of dust rising from the wreckage. From the ruins of the destroyed structure came Agrippa, rubbing his head and muttering something.

He noticed everyone was staring at him. The larvitar blinked, twice, and then smiled innocently. "I can explain."

As if on cue, Pyrros landed next to him with a _thunk_. He raised a single talon. "As can I!"

There was a long silence, as everyone contemplated what should be done. A long, awkward silence. Someone sneezed. Another coughed.

"Pyrros, Agrippa," growled Leo, resting the flat of one of his blades against his forehead.

"Yes?" they both answered.

With an exasperated sigh, Leo walked by the two, grabbing onto Agrippa's hand along the way and dragging him along.

"Does this mean that I am not needed, Sir Leo?"

The quick glare he received in return confirmed that yes, Leo wanted him to follow. The unfortunate charizard followed, hanging his head, and his wings drooping rather sadly.

As soon as most of the others were out of earshot, Leo turned, ready to berate the two… When, suddenly, from a nearby tree, leapt Nadia, panting heavily. "Phew, hey, Leo… I made it back, finally. Had to lose an obnoxious fearow, first, but… Heh. Aidan probably already told you this, right?"

Leo stopped, looking over at the sneasel, confused. "Aidan?"

Agrippa sighed in relief, glad for this postponement of punishment.

"We split up, he was gonna meet me back here… He… He's here, right?" She trailed off, her voice wavering.

"Aidan never made it back, Nadia."

"Wait, he didn't make it back... then... where is he?"

"Oh, worry not, good Lady Nadia," Pyrros chimed in. "Your kin is of the most hardy nature. I'm sure little Aidan, wherever he is, is most comfortable, and shall return with the utmost haste!"

* * *

><p>It was dark, dingy, and not at all pleasant, the room Aidan found himself waking up in. He pushed himself to his feet, his eyes adjusting to the new setting, and groaned. "Where… where am I?"<p>

"Oh, that's so cliché… Everyone says it. 'Course, everyone's probably wondering where they are…" a voice answered him, dismally. "Nice to have a cell mate again, anyhow."

Aidan jumped to his feet, suddenly. "Cell mate?" He looked around franticly, automatically extending his claws. "Where in the hell are we?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He heard a sigh. "Well. Suppose they usually don't pick the smart ones, for this job… We're prisoners, the both of us. Dozens of others, as well."

"Prisoners? Why? I've done nothing wrong! I've practically been a saint my entire life!" … That, of course, was a lie.

"Well, you won't last very long here, I'm afraid, if you're a 'saint'. And here I thought you were going to be someone I'd be able to get to know while we're both alive."

"Oh, well, actually I lied," admitted Aidan. "I'm actually pretty much the exactly opposite of one of those." He gave a cursory look at his surroundings. "Um, but I've gotta ask. 'While we're alive'?"

"Oh, you poor, poor sneasel." Again, the voice sighed.

A small movement in the corner of Aidan's eye caused him to turn. If he was going to be forced to fight something, here… Well, damn. He wasn't ready for anything. His head pounded, angrily, at his sudden motion.

"Good going. Now you've gone and hurt yourself, haven't you?" The voice seemed closer, now, and only got more so as the seconds passed. "Well. Better introduce myself. I'm Cole."

He looked down. The voice was definitely smaller than him, probably by a foot or so. "Cole, huh?"

"Your eyes adjusted yet?"

Finally everything seemed to come into focus. He looked in the direction of the voice, to see a cubone, standing there, bone club in hand. "A cubone?"

"Yep. You know what they say. Wears his mother's skull, eternally lonely…" He looked down, closing his eyes. It could be assumed he was frowning.

"Well, that sucks. I'm Aidan, by the way. And you still haven't told me where we are."

"Oh for the love of f-…" Cole stopped, composing himself. He had dealt with more clueless individuals; he wasn't going to lose his temper with this one. "We're in an underground fighting ring! That satisfy your little one-track mind?"

"Jeez," mumbled Aidan. "You don't have to be so rude about it. Anyhow, I've gotta get home, so..."

"You don't get it, do you!" There was complete and utter silence as the two stared at each other, Cole now visibly upset, though it was hard to tell through his skull. Apparently Aidan indeed did not get it. Finally he sighed, his club tapping the ground. "You can't go back home. Neither of us can. We're going to die in here."

"You're a downer, you know that?"

Cole knew his new companion wasn't going to working out.

* * *

><p>"Once a year. Just <em>once<em> every _year_! I ask you all not to f!& something up! For just a day!"

Agrippa, Blake, Don, and Pyrros sat in front of Leo, the imposing gallade towering over them all, arm blades extended, as he yelled at them. Agrippa and Pyrros were staring at the ground, both looking like disciplined children, and Blake, as usual, was just acting the stereotypical way of the emo, occasionally allowing his wandering eye to drift over to Don, who was still out cold on the forest floor.

"And now look! You managed to break a table, Don's passed out, and-… Where's Tyri? And Jiraar, for that matter! I can't leave any of you alone for a second without… What in the bloody hell were you all doing!"

There was a long, awkward silence. No one wanted to be the first to respond… for good reason, too. Finally Agrippa, unable to take the strain of having pressure on him, blurted out, suddenly, "I just wanted some foooood!" He began to cry.

Sensing the opportunity to play at Leo's emotions, Pyrros quickly volunteered his excuse next. "I, Sir Leo, was simply helping little Agrippa acquire some sustenance."

Leo sighed. He couldn't very well punish Agrippa while he was bawling, and Pyrros was completely out of his jurisdiction anyway, as well as being dangerously violent. He just wandered his eyes over to Blake and Don, and growled, about ready to snap, "And you two? Or just Blake, since Don managed to get knocked out… _Somehow_."

"He interrupted my alone time," stated Blake bluntly.

"So you knocked him out!"

"Didn't mean to. His fault, anyways."

This close to killing someone. This. Close. Leo's eye began to twitch. "Next thing. Next. Thing. Next negative thing someone tells me, I am just going to put my blade through someone's skull!"

And, because Murphy is a cruel, cruel god, in came Nadia, with a worried expression. "No one's seen Aidan!"

… … … …

Pyrros looked up from comforting Agrippa. "Technically, Sir Leo, that's not exactly a bad thing, to you," he commented, attempting to lighten the situation.

"I honestly don't think things can get any worse, at this point," mumbled Leo.

"Murphy," warned Blake.

Pyrros perked up, suddenly, and pointed to a figure in the distance. "Ah, look! It's my faithful traveling companion, Jiraar!"

Jiraar turned. He'd heard his name. Someone- Judging by the wording, Pyrros- had called him. Great. He was just walking by, and now the nidoking had to interrupt his day to converse with his _favorite_ person in the world. "What do you want?"

"Where were you off to, my good friend?"

"Doesn't matter." He turned to continue his walk.

"Wait, Jiraar…" Leo stopped him, being such a glutton for punishment, today. "Have you seen Tyri?"

Jiraar halted. "Yes. I have."

"Where was she?"

A shrug. "Said she was leaving."

A nice, long, and completely necessary silence followed. Leo stood, dumbstruck. He was as one of the living dead, not even daring to move, lest his heart just give out from the sheer stress of it all.

It was then that Don, slowly returning to consciousness, sat up, rubbing his head. He groaned feebly, "Wha'd I miss?"

* * *

><p>It was cold… It had always been cold. Everything. Chosen to bear this curse, she was, and bear it she did, with the stoic vigilance of her kind. The world moved around her, for she never took a step, and yet, somehow, she found herself in company. <em>Friendship<em>, you could call it. A concept she had nearly forgotten.

… Nearly.

But, in time, her companions would be gone. In time, they would grow old. In time, they would be killed. In time, they would abandon her. But perhaps, before then, her time would be up, as well. And there would be nothing she would enjoy more than that.

If only time didn't take so long to pass.

The night went on, and she gathered nothing more than a cursory glance throughout. Watching from afar, no stranger dared to invade her space. All she could do was close her eyes and wait it out.

She stirred. The slightest movement, unnoticeable to all but herself, but she had made a motion. "The winds of destiny have begun. Who among us shall be the one to stop them?"

But, no one heard her prophetic quote, and the celebration continued, every attendee ignorant as to the coming series of events.


End file.
